Good potential of existing natural gas deposit on a commercial scale can be confirmed after drilling of fifth test well in the offshore block M-9 in Myanmar, according to state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar on Saturday.

The block M-9 is in the Mottama offshore area of Myanmar where the PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd of Thailand ( PTTEP) is engaged in exploration of gas.

Zawtika-3, the fifth gas-yielding test well at the block after Zawtika-1, Gawthaka-1, Karkonna-1 and Zawtika-2, can produce 26 million cubic-feet (0.736 million cubic-meters) in maximum per day, the paper said.

Some more test wells will be continued for drilling throughout this year at the block for both domestic demand and export to Thailand and the production is said to formally start in the year 2011 or 2012, according to earlier reports.

The PTTEP has already been engaged in five gas projects in Myanmar mainly in the Mottama offshore area's blocks M-7, M-9, M-3, M-4 and M-11.

Myanmar has abundance of natural gas resources especially in the offshore areas. With three main large offshore oil and gas fields and 19 onshore ones, Myanmar has proven recoverable reserve of 18.012 trillion cubic-feet (TCF) or 510 billion cubic-meters ( BCM) out of 89.722 TCF or 2.54 trillion cubic-meters (TCM)'s estimated reserve of offshore and onshore gas, experts said.

The country is also estimated to have 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserve, official statistics indicate.

The Myanmar figures also show that in the fiscal year 2005-06, the country produced 7.962 million barrels of crude oil and 11.45 BCM of gas. Gas export during the year went to 9.138 BCM, earning over 1 billion U.S. dollars.

Other statistics reveal that foreign investment in Myanmar's oil and gas sector had reached 2.668 billion dollars as of September 2006 since the country opened to such investment in late 1988, dominating the country's foreign investment sectorally.

Currently, 13 foreign oil companies, mainly from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Russia, are operating 33 onshore and offshore projects in Myanmar, official sources disclosed.

Source: Xinhua